Obama has recently spoken with Charles Barkley, Steve Harvey, Grantland Editor-in-Chief Bill Simmons and Bill O'Reilly, Cillizza writes. "The growth of non-traditional media -- from Huffington Post to The Daily Show to 1,000 other offshoots covering pieces and parts of the news cycle -- allows this president to pick his spots and his audiences in ways that were unthinkable even for George W. Bush."

What to read next

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Andrew Beaujon reported on the media for Poynter from 2012 to 2015. He was previously arts editor at TBD.com and managing editor of Washington City Paper. He's the author of the 2006 book "Body Piercing Saved My Life," about Christian rock and evangelical Christian culture.